10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1988

By the time 1988 rolled around, what had been dubbed "hair metal" had broken through to the mainstream, meaning that rock's platform was getting more access to ears and eyes than ever before. The year also saw a re-emergence of the punk scene with some bright new faces on the scene.

There were also still a few vets from the '70s continuing to make their mark. And industrial rock was beginning to creep in on the mainstream. While hard rock hadn't yet reached the commercial mass it would have in the '90s, 1988 gave us plenty to chew on and was huge for a few bands in providing the building blocks to a stellar career.

In this list, we get a chance to see just how eclectic the rock scene had become by 1988 and cutting this countdown to just 10 albums required some tough decisions, with a few albums we truly love just missing the cut. Check out our 10 favorite hard rock albums of 1988 in the gallery below.